On Thursday 02 May 2002 01:53 am, Mcleod, Ian wrote: BTW - 10 points for anyone > that can guess the Old English origin of 'whelmed' > > Ian McLeod > Well Ian, here's my guess :
English : overwhelmed, Danish : overvældet. In danish (and the other nordic dialects) "vælde" means "power" "force" "mighty". The word is often used in context with the ocean - of which we have plenty here. A huge amount of the nordic languages was absorbed into english around 900 - 1200 when most of Britain was under "danelaw". Reading Shakespeare illustrates this well. And to add to your vocabulary : in danish a "sjuft" is a villain, a crook, a criminal. Accordingly, a notorious software-company here is called "Microsjuft". Regards Kaj Haulrich Denmark
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